Safest Cities: Discover How Your City Ranks

With fears of falling victim to cybercrime and mass shootings topping the list of crime worries among Americans, according to the most recent Gallup polls, the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2017’s Safest Cities in America.

To determine where Americans can feel most protected against life’s hazards, including nonphysical forms of danger, WalletHub’s analysts compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 35 key metrics. The data set ranges from assaults per capita to unemployment rate to road quality.

I live in Oklahoma City, which is ranked among the top five least safest cities in America. The number of natural disasters including deadly tornadoes were a major contributing factor.

Safest Cities in America

Least Safe Cities in America

1

Nashua, NH

173

Jackson, MS

2

South Burlington, VT

174

Baton Rouge, LA

3

Warwick, RI

175

Chattanooga, TN

4

Columbia, MD

176

Orlando, FL

5

Gilbert, AZ

177

Little Rock, AR

6

Fargo, ND

178

Detroit, MI

7

Lewiston, ME

179

Oklahoma City, OK

8

Plano, TX

180

San Bernardino, CA

9

Portland, ME

181

St. Louis, MO

10

Brownsville, TX

182

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Safest vs. Least Safe

Corpus Christi, Texas, has the fewest hate-crime incidents (per 100,000 residents), 0.31, which is 71.8 times fewer than in Boston, the city with the most at 22.25.

Yonkers, New York, has the fewest thefts (per 1,000 residents), 13, which is 6.8 times fewer than in Salt Lake City, the city with the most at 88.

Washington has the most law-enforcement employees (per 100,000 residents), 639, which is 5.7 times more than in Irvine, California, the city with the fewest at 113.

Aurora, Colorado, has among the fewest pedestrian fatalities (per 100,000 residents), 0.28, which is 27.2 times fewer than in Jackson, Mississippi, the city with the most at 7.62.

South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate, 2.1 percent, which is 5.2 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 10.9 percent.

Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest share of the uninsured population, 3.8 percent, which is 9.1 times lower than in the Brownsville, Texas, registering the highest at 34.6 percent.

Hello, I'm Jennifer. I write about faith and family from the perspective of a Gen-Xer navigating life in the 21st Century. Generation X, a so-called "lost generation" of former latchkey kids, was born between 1961 and 1981. Thanks for stopping by!